MLB News

Round-by-round Home Run Derby results

By
Andrew Simon and Chad ThornburgMLB.com

Major League Baseball home run leader Aaron Judge was crowned this year's T-Mobile Home Run Derby champion on Monday night at Marlins Park in Miami.

Judge needed just a little more than half his allotted time to defeat the Twins' Miguel Sano in the finals with 11 homers and belted four home runs beyond the 500-foot mark, going as deep as 513 feet in Round 2. Two of Judge's homers were longer than any Statcast™ has tracked since its inception in 2015.

Major League Baseball home run leader Aaron Judge was crowned this year's T-Mobile Home Run Derby champion on Monday night at Marlins Park in Miami.

Judge needed just a little more than half his allotted time to defeat the Twins' Miguel Sano in the finals with 11 homers and belted four home runs beyond the 500-foot mark, going as deep as 513 feet in Round 2. Two of Judge's homers were longer than any Statcast™ has tracked since its inception in 2015.

The Yankees rookie outlasted some of the game's most elite sluggers, including last year's Derby winner Giancarlo Stanton, his New York teammate Gary Sanchez, the Marlins' Justin Bour, the Rockies' Charlie Blackmon, the Dodgers' Cody Bellinger and the Royals' Mike Moustakas.

Judge's toughest challenge came in Round 1, when he narrowly survived with 23 home runs to Bour's 22. Judge coasted past Bellinger in the second round with more than a minute to spare.

Here's a round-by-round breakdown of Monday's Derby.

Round 1: Sano (5) vs. Moustakas (4)SANO: The Twins' third baseman easily qualified for the 30-second bonus time with each of his first five home runs going for the required 440 feet or farther. The Twins slugger finished with 11 homers, including a 470-foot shot that's longer than anything he's hit in 2017.

MOUSTAKAS: Moose staged a valiant challenge to the solid score put up by Sano. After homering on his first swing, he fell into a seven-out slump before a burst of nine homers in 12 swings put him in contention. However, with a little less than a minute remaining in the round, the Royals' third baseman fell just short. His final homer, a 114-mph shot, fell three feet shy of 440 feet, which would have triggered 30 seconds of bonus time.

Round 1: Sanchez (8) vs. Stanton (1)SANCHEZ: The Yankees' catcher set the bar high for the reigning champion, belting 17 home runs in his first-round matchup against Stanton. Sanchez's hit six blasts that exceeded his longest career homer (450 feet) as well as the longest of the competition to that point at 483 feet. Sanchez, along with teammate Judge, took swings against a familiar hurler -- Yankees batting-practice pitcher Danilo Valiente.

STANTON: Although he put on quite a show for the hometown fans, Stanton ultimately came up one homer shy of advancing. Still, he launched homer after homer to the distant depths of Marlins Park, with eight going at least 480 feet and 12 coming off his bat at 115 mph or harder. Stanton had gone deep just four times before taking his timeout with about 2:30 left, then went on a binge that brought him to within two long balls of Sanchez going into a dramatic 30-second bonus period.

Round 1: Blackmon (6) vs. Bellinger (3)BLACKMON: The Rockies' center fielder peppered the Marlins Park stands with a steady dose of long balls, totaling 14. Blackmon didn't light up the scoreboard with his Statcast™ metrics, but he did put himself in good position to advance. He did so without the aid of the 30-second bonus time with none of his home runs reaching 440 feet. Blackmon saved the best for last as his final shot traveled 434 feet, his longest of the round.

BELLINGER: It took a while for the Dodgers rookie to find his groove, as he trailed Blackmon 14-7 with about 1:30 to go and 14-10 entering his final minute. But Bellinger's 446-foot shot in the final seconds -- his second homer of at least 440 -- bought him 30 seconds of bonus time, and he took advantage. A majestic drive into the upper deck in right field as the bonus time expired pushed Bellinger into the second round.

Round 1: Bour (7) vs. Judge (2)BOUR: The Marlins' first baseman put on a show for the hometown crowd, launching 22 home runs opposite Judge, who is MLB's home run leader. Bour called his timeout with just over a minute remaining and only one home run at 440 feet or greater, but he came back and mashed nine more, five of them exceeding 440 feet to easily clinch a bonus 30 seconds. Bour used that time wisely, adding three more to establish a new Round 1 high.

JUDGE: Faced with a sky-high number to beat and even higher expectations, Judge delivered in every way. For one thing, there was his 117-mph, 501-foot bomb that is the longest Statcast™ has tracked in its three years of Derby history, topping a 497-footer from Stanton last year. Judge hit six homers that had an exit velocity of 115 mph or harder and 23 in all, the last in bonus time to pass Bour and advance.

Round 2: Sanchez (8) vs. Sano (5)SANCHEZ: Sanchez's bat cooled a bit in the second round as he managed just 10 homers after a thrilling 17-blast performance to best Stanton in the opening round. Sanchez connected for five homers that traveled beyond 440 feet, allowing him to reach double digits in bonus time. Although the home runs weren't as frequent, Sanchez hit his longest in his second trip to the plate, and both his average distance and exit velocity were up in Round 2.

SANO: He matched his first-round total, passing Sanchez and stopping his round with 45 seconds still left on the clock, plus a 30-second bonus in the bag. Sano made it look easy, crushing one blast projected at 491 feet, plus another at 484. After taking his timeout with 1:59 remaining, Sano effortlessly racked up his final five homers in the next 1 minute, 14 seconds to advance to the finals.

Round 2: Bellinger (3) vs. Judge (2)BELLINGER: The Dodgers' rookie sensation appeared to run out of steam in Round 2, but he still put 12 home runs on the board. Bellinger's longest blast was 433 feet, which put him short of qualifying for the 30-second bonus time. With his father pitching to him, Bellinger did, however, increase his average distance and exit velocity from his opening-round performance.

JUDGE: Advancing to the finals is one thing, but Judge did so much more than that, a feat he accomplished with a minute still left on the clock. When the Yankees rookie wasn't sending homers the opposite way into the upper deck in right field, he was crushing 500-footers to left. Judge hammered three of those in the round -- 504 and 513 back-to-back, then a 507-shot to seal the deal. That gave him four over the 500 mark for the night, with the two longest of those being longer than any Statcast™ has tracked in game action in its three seasons.

Final Round: Sano (5) vs. Judge (2)SANO: Sano started slowly, leaving the park just once before calling his timeout at 2:34. But he found his rhythm after the break, immediately belting back-to-back homers and stretching his total from one to 10. Sano punctuated his four minutes with a 449-footer at the buzzer that clinched bonus time.

JUDGE: He never used his timeout and took only a little more than half of his allotted four minutes to hit 11 dingers and claim the title. Judge's first three swings resulted in big flies, including a 469-foot shot to right-center field. A 112-mph, 458-foot blast that soared into the seats above straightaway center field put the finishing touches on a brilliant night, with just under two minutes remaining in the period.